


Boy Blue Beyond

by Twilight_Shadow_Songs



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, DCU (Animated), DCU (Comics)
Genre: I'm making my own rules lol, Mind Games, Multi, Nelson is a superhero, Riddles, second gen heroes, there's weird mystery stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-04-03 17:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4109251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilight_Shadow_Songs/pseuds/Twilight_Shadow_Songs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Boy Blue,</p><p>Go blow your horn</p><p>Light's ransomed the widow</p><p>And Robin's come to harm</p><p>Nelson Nash has always been curious about his heritage and secrets his family seems to keep. But when he sticks his nose where it shouldn't be, Nelson bites of slightly more than he can chew.</p><p> </p><p>But what else is new for him?</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Brought over from my account on Fanfiction. Will be updating here</b>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Excuse Me, What?

_Little Boy Blue,_

_Go blow your horn_

_Light's ransomed the widow_

_And Robin's come to harm_

_Where is the bat who looks after his people?_

_In a dingy mansion, 'neath a preacher's steeple._

_Will you get him?_

_No, not I._

_But Blue will save us, if he tries._

"…the hell is this shit?" incredulous cornflower blue eyes frowned down at the cryptic letter (who sent written letters anymore? E-mail was just so much faster) as Nelson Nash rubbed the back of his neck. Okay, maybe he wasn't supposed to be snooping around in Grandad's stuff, but an opened, new looking letter on top of his desk? Nelson hadn't been raised to mind his own business. And so, fifteen minutes later, he was found sitting at the desk, puzzling over the note, or poem, or riddle, or whatever it was supposed to be, trying to puzzle it out. Not that he was that good at puzzles, though his father had really tried instilling the art of problem-solving into his son. Nelson Nash preferred hitting the thing dead on. If that didn't work, you kicked it. And if that didn't work, throw a smoothie on the cursed thing and hope it shorts out. Or use the lock-picking skills Grandad taught you while dad wasn't looking. See? That was problem-solving. Unfortunately, Nash couldn't use any of that on the letter and when his great-grandfather walked in, the young red-head was staring hatefully at the thing.

"Nel, where are- what are you doing?! Nelson jumped and quickly put the letter down, spinning around to face his great-grandfather. As old as Bruce Wayne (not Grandad's fault his son and grandson had all gotten girls pregnant during highschool), and just as spry, though it seriously seemed the guy would fall dead from shock. Nelson jumped up and went to his great-grandfather. "Hey, Grandad? You okay?" The old man hit his great-grandson over the head with his cane and glared hawkishly at the cringing red-head. "That was a private letter, young man" Nash shrugged. "It was opened and sitting there" The old man grinned. "Your father raised you too well, kiddo. Now come help me. I can't seem to reach the book I want, when you get older, it seems, you get smaller" He gave a slightly wheezy chuckle as Nash rolled his eyes and followed him out into the hall. "What was that note about, anyway?" The old man gave his descendant a sharp look. "Never you mind, Nel. Now, about that book…" Nelson sighed, unable to shake the feeling his grandad was hiding something.

Visits to Grandad's was always both pleasant and tense, in Nash's opinion. Pleasant because, when dad was gone, Grandad showed him how to pick locks or scale walls, or basic instructions in how to effectively break an arm with the least minimal damage with a baseball bat. (Of course, they didn't use real arms, it might have been fun, but it was against the law. They practiced on neighbor's mailboxes, instead) There was also tracking, and learning how to shoot arrows, among other things, and Grandad often told him stories of his great-great-grandmother, who he supposedly looked a lot like, but he couldn't tell. The old photos were black and white and really faded, but Nelson loved when Grandad talked about her and his great-great grandfather, and their friends. He really did enjoy the stories about Tubby and Toughie, and their kids, who had been Grandad's friends. It only got tense when Nelson's dad was in the house, and there would be whispered arguments and angry, biting comments Nelson didn't get. He'd often tip-toe to his designated room (his dad's old room), and hide out till the arguments, and side-glances his way, and the biting comments were over, though for hours after there was a tense silence Nelson had learned by now not to try and breach.

It was the same as usual, sort of, when his dad walked through the door. Nelson Nash and Shawn Rogers were at the table, Nelson learning a new whistle. Henry was grinning. "Good, good, now, you've got to repeat this three times, it's a special whistle you see. I learned it from my father, your great-great-grandfather, he always went by Tommy, and I taught it to your father, so I'll teach it to you" Nelson had been rather pleased by this. Maybe he could use it to get his team's attention, a secret whistle to call them together. That would be cool. 

And then his father came in. 

"What are you teaching my son now, dad" it was a low, angry warning, and Nash immediately got up and headed for the kitchen door, leading to the hall. He was beating a hasty exit or he'd get dragged into a conversation he still didn't understand.

However, since they always got a little bit louder when the door was closed, something prompted Nelson to stay and listen this time. He kneeled by the doorknob, where the wizened door had made a natural curved crack over time, and put his ear as close to it as he dared.

"Little….Blue….family business….not dragging him…dead, dad…"

"Wasn't….choice….attic, hidden, not….notebooks, of course….Blue Boys adventures…just innocent….it's his choice…Little Boy Blue is needed….Light, again….not…fine…"

The voices lapsed into silence and Nelson knew that he could go back in, but he just sat there, chewing his lip. He wasn't allowed into the attic by either Grandad or dad, he kept getting grounded when they saw him anywhere near the ladder, but they'd raised him to be curious. Besides, as usual the conversation didn't make sense to him, but it had something to do with that letter, and something to do with the attic. And using his deduction skills (that even he was willing to admit he was sorely lacking in) he decided that the attic was the answer he'd been needing for years and grounding or no, he was going to look around.

Nelson just about jumped out of his skin as the ladder creaked loudly on it’s way down to the ground and looked over at the storage room's door, the storage room being where the attic entrance was. Nobody came in, there was no running footsteps, everything was fine. Nelson let out a breath and climbed up the ladder, then going down quickly and rummaging through a few boxes before coming out a bit dusty and with a working flashlight, and went up once more.

Nelson couldn't believe his eyes. There were costumes, four of them, and a carefully preserved boot of a fifth, on large mannequins in huge glass cases. He dimly recognized them from old pictures that were in the museum in Big City, where Grandad lived. The old superhero squad that kept the city safe, the Blue Boys. And, well, one girl, but he couldn't remember what she was called. He walked closer to the more prominent one, the only one with a red hood, gloves and boots, and just stared. It looked like it had been designed for a preteen. And why was he drawn to it? And why was it in Grandad's attic? He shook his head and continued looking around, there had been mention of notebooks, hadn't there? Those probably most likely held all the answers. He found them in a locked case. Make that double locked with individual locks on each notebook. Good thing he was handy with a pin and tumbler, and that the locks were so rusted on the case he could just yank them off. Nelson sat back and opened the notebooks. It didn't take him long to piece everything together as he looked through the notebooks, no, adventure diaries, and got the world-rocking of a lifetime.

"No freaking way"

His great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, and uncle (who had died several years before Nelson was born, in the guy's teens, to everyone's dismay) had all been superheroes. More importantly, they'd been Little Boy Blue, leader of the Blue Boys, the now defunct protectors of Big City.

It was about half-an-hour later when Nelson Nash, great-grandson to Shawn Rogers, son of Tommy Rogers, the first Little Boy Blue, came downstairs and into the living room where his dad and Grandad were sitting. Nelson was cradling the old Little Boy Blue costume and the notebooks in his arms and he stared seriously at his family, who stared at him dumbstruck.

"We need to talk"


	2. No Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to choose. Hero or zero?
> 
> ...  
> ...  
> ...
> 
> Not much of a choice, is it?

They sat around the kitchen table, Nelson, his father, and Shawn Rogers, Nelson's great grandfather. An old but well-preserved blue and red and yellow costume, as well as three worn notebooks, sat in the middle of the table like a bad omen. Nelson propped his elbows on the table and rested his head on folded hands. His father was glaring at the costume, and Shawn had a slight smile on his face, as he looked at both of his legacies, his great-grandson and his old costume.

They'd been sitting like that for a while now, Nelson having no idea what to actually say after he'd demanded they sit down and talk about this. Neither of the other males were offering any help and so he finally cleared his throat. Right now, he wanted to punch something, attack something, but there was nothing to attack. He had to talk. 'Use your words, Nellie' he remembered his mom would always say. His throat constricted at the thought of his mother and his words came out as a croak as a result. "Why didn't either of you tell me?!" He looked at Shawn, then his father. Shawn chuckled. "Oh, it's simple. The heritage might be passed down father to son, but only if the son earns it, by finding the costume" Nelson's father gave the old man a sharp glance. "'Well-Hidden', huh? 'Not going to find it in a million years', right?" Shawnhad an innocent look on his face. "It used to be, and then I thought he'd never find it, so I let the costumes out to air, and reminisce, you can't deny an old man his memories, can you?" The other man rolled his eyes. “Memories my ass” he muttered, and Nelson chuckled.

"Okay, great, I guess I earned it. I don't know if I want to join a legacy of goody-two-shoes-" Shawn began laughing so hard he choked and Nelson had to go and get him water and his pills, sitting by the old man and patting him on the back till he recovered. "Is that what you think? That we were good boys? I took up the suit to make the police look bad. Let’s be clear; my father was head of police and I had a sort of obsession with proving myself a better hero than he ever was. My father, well, he did it to get his lawyer father to stop complaining about his cases and the gangsters involved, and your uncle well, he did it because he was bored, and joining that group was simply to rebel against me and my rules" Nash smirked. 

Well, it all sounded like things he'd do. "Guess gramps never found the costume then?" The old man nodded. "My son never found it, so I was pleased when his oldest found it, and your father after him. But, well, after what happened to your uncle, I'm not surprised he said no" Nelson looked at his dad, who'd for some reason decided to keep Nelson's mother's last name, not his own. "Did mom ever know about it?"

The older Nash looked like he'd swallowed a bad lemon and clasped his hands. "Yes. She did. She wanted me to take the suit up, be a hero. I refused though, your mom was pregnant with you, and she was fragile," Henry Rogers snorted and Nelson's father glared at him for a moment. Nelson swallowed and nodded. He didn't really remember his mother; she'd died when he was seven from a heart defect that she'd had her entire life. He remembered her perfume though, it had been peppermint and vanilla and sage. "Besides, your uncle died playing hero; we lost his antigravity suit and his sonic horn. There was no way I was risking my neck when you were on the way, your mom was the way she was, and there was risk of death"

While Nelson couldn't completely hate his dad for not doing it, especially for those reasons, still the first thing that popped into his head was 'fucking coward' but he supposed that not everyone was made to be a masked hero. The hockey star ran his hands through his short crew-cut and looked at his father and great-grand-father. "Okay, now what?" Henry slid the suit over so it was in the exact center of the table. "Now, you choose" He said simply, and Nelson gave a snort of laughter. "No pressure"

 

~*~

 

Nelson ran across the tops of buildings in full costume, altered due to his height and husky build. And by 'altered' his grandfather meant creating an entirely new suit. Less flashy than the original Boy Blue costume, Nelson's was a one-piece blue catsuit with red gloves, red boots, a yellow scarf/cape that flew several feet behind him and a blue hood and silver mask. Nelson had wanted to ditch the yellow monstrosity, but had to concede that it was important to keep the original colors of the costume so people knew who he was, though he had every intention of changing it the second he could. Perhaps his splash of yellow could be a belt, or something…

**"Nelson, focus boy!"**

Nelson winced as his father's voice blared through the radio in Nelson's ear. He flailed in surprise as he jumped and landed on the next building in a messy tumble. A mess of static buzzed through Nelson's ear as his father sighed. You have to be on guard at all times, kiddo. This means training. I'm tough because I don't feel like making up a story for how my son died, and going to visit an unmarked gravestone, got it? Personally, Nelson felt like his father was over-reacting, but then again, Heroes died all the time, and in bizarre ways sometimes. Maybe having his dad and grandpa as his techies and back-ups was a good idea, even if they agonized over safety, protocol and sometimes argued over the line when they were supposed to be giving him tips or orders.

Nelson leaped off his building and began climbing up another, getting to one of the tallest roofs in Big City, the State Capitol Building. It was in the center of the city and great to see from. 

_"I live for the applause plause, live for the applause plause"_

He sang under his breath, giddy from the sheer height and rush of the mere thought of being a masked hero, able to kick butt for good reasons. His father chuckled. If you're done singing popsongs, there's some problems going on about a block away from you, some new upstart Jokerz gang. Care to show them why setting up a Jokerz gang here is a bad idea? The 'but I just got up here!' whine died on Nelson's lips and he grinned. "With pleasure" He got down almost gracefully(hours of practicing scaling the sides of the building helped) and hit the next roof running, going off to do his new job, and do it with savage pleasure.


	3. Secrets Spilled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What seems obvious may not be exactly so

Nash closed his eyes for a moment, remembering a flash of lemon rind yellow skin where there should have been lily white pale. _“Stay back, Boy Blue. I am so terribly_ bad _for you, monster that I am"_ was still ringing in his head. It haunted him, and the desperate sadness and pity he had felt for the metahuman. 

After all, it wasn’t like J-Man had had a choice in who his parantage was. 

**~ Six hours ago ~**

“I don’t believe this!” Exploded Batman-Terry, actually and why wouldn’t he and Nelson Nash recognize each other? They had only been at each other’s throats since the second grade when Terry had gotten into a fist fight with Nelson Nah over who was better, Huntress or Question. Nelson had said Huntress because she was beautiful and a total Bad Girl (he had thought till he was eleven that swearing would open a pit beneath his feet and send him straight to hell. Nobody told him that, he just assumed) while Terry said Question because she used her head. Not that either Terry or Nelson actually used their heads, but the fight had cemented a rivalry since that day. And since they had been glaring at each other since Terry broke Nelson’s nose that day and Nelson had given Terry a black eye, it made sense that at least one of them would recognize the other in his hero get-up almost immediately. And once Terry did, Nelson was able to recognize him too.

Nelson spat a mix of blood and spit and glared at new Batman and the current members of the Justice League. “You _gotta_ be kidding me” he had stated, rather pissed off that they had showed up, presumably to ruin his fun being a superhero. He had just finished with one of the many gangs in Big City for the night and had turned only to get his face punched by Warhawk. Why? he had no idea but it really pissed him off if they were being honest. He really hadn’t deserved that. And then when he was cussing them out Batman had stepped forward and in a very Terry voice had exploded and Nelson finally realized who he was and then _he_ had exploded and the next thing anyone knew Warhawk and Aquagirl had to pull the two off each other from an immediate tussle. Terry might have had the superior suit but Nelson had brute strength and pure rage on his side and Warhawk found it interesting to note that both of them were about equally matched in this particular instance. 

It took a half hour to get the two from screaming at each other, and by this time the group had moved to the Watchtower because Kai Ro was hungry and Warhawk had a slight soft spot for the kid, plus he would rather get somewhere controlled rather than have to deal with what was largely unknown territory for him. There had never really been a reason to visit the gang rampant city before now seeing as there weren’t any actual villains there and hadn’t been for years. Not since the last Boy Blue at least. But now that there was a hero on the scene sooner or later there would be a villain again and Rex was counting on sooner rather than later. Which meant he would have to get familiar with the city, joy of joys. Besides, they had to get out of there as the two fighting idiots were calling each other by their civilian names.

It didn’t take long to wrangle the long history of the rivalry and respect/hatred for each other the current Boy Blue and Batman shared, not that it wasn’t glaringly obvious that they were intense rivals, but it was good to get the full story out. Kai Ro attempted to mediate between the two hot-headed teenagers while he ate french fries. “Batman, Little Boy Blue, it would pay to put your differences aside while in the suits. We should work together, not fight each other” the preteen told them both calmly while Terry and Nelson showed actual restraint and just sat with their backs turned to each other. 

“Ain’t fighting him right now kiddo” Nelson had groused at the preteen. Terry snorted his agreement while Static came in, took one look at the situation and came to the conclusion this is what it would have been like if Orion and Hawk had been brothers. After that he walked over to where Rex was and talked to him before getting out of there as quickly as he could. He was getting far too old for this sort of drama. 

“Why am I here anyway?” Nelson asked and Terry rolled his eyes while Aquagirl jumped at the opportunity to explain the situation. A few mysterious letters had turned up with riddles on them, instructing the League to find eight people, four heroes and four villains. The explanation sent a chill down Nelson’s back, who remembered the letter that had been on his grandfather’s desk. If the riddles were coming true, did that mean that one was going to come true as well ?He sincerely hoped not. 

“We found you and the new Batgirl” Aquagirl, Mareena, said. “But we need to find the new Question and the new Creeper” Nelson looked around for a new Batgirl but didn’t see anyone in the room wearing the signature black with the bat symbol besides Terry. He turned back to Mareena and grinned at her suggestively though she only rolled her eyes. Rex bopped Nelson again when he saw the grin. 

“Paws off my girl” he stated gruffly, and effectively ended Nelson’s interest in the very nice Mareena. Obviously from everyone’s reactions the whole thing was a bit of a controversy. Some people seemed fine with the new recruiting, such as Kai Ro and Mareena, while others such as Terry and Rex seemed ticked off and annoyed at the very idea. But what choice did they have, with the riddles? Leave the emerging heroes to fend for themselves from whoever was sending the riddles? No way. 

Rex looked at Nelson with a hard ,judging stare before turning to Terry. “Your friend J-Man’s been causing unprovoked attacks lately. We’re thinking he might be one of the villains mentioned in the poems” Nelson only sort of knew who J-Man was, as someone with that name had wrecked his car awhile back. He was up on his feet in an instant, hand smacking into his palm. “Alright, let’s go knock some heads” Terry pushed him back into his seat with one fluid motion of getting up and spinning around and just _moving_. It knocked the breath out of Nelson in more ways than one. 

“You’re not coming” Terry said gruffly, obviously still pissed off. “You’ve been a hero for barely a week-”

“Three months actually numbnuts” cut in Nelson, feeling rather proud of the fact. Terry made a sound of derision. 

“Okay, three months. In those three months you have never had to deal with a supervillain, have you? No? Then sit the fuck back down until you can tell me you have your own villain-” a hand closed on his shoulder and Micron, the silent hero that had stood in the back when they had picked up Nelson, shook his head. 

“Needs experience, Batman” the hero let go of Terry and walked out of the room, presumably to the transporter room. Terry stared after him, dumbfounded and effectively silenced. Micron was one of those people that didn’t talk that much. Hell, Terry didn’t even know who he was out of the suit. Terry looked over at Rex, who shrugged.

“Micron has a point. Besides, if the poem says “It starts with the Little Boy in Blue” then it’s probably good to bring him along” Nelson grinned in victory before he caught the sharp gaze of Warhawk and realized he was still in some sort of probation with them. He felt sick and pissed off. They were treating him hardly better than a criminal or a dog that might snap and bite somebody. He stood up and followed after where Micron had gone, just wanting to get away from Terry and Warhawk at least for a few moments. For once he understood that it wasn’t worth picking a fight with the two stronger and more experienced fighters. 

It didn’t take long to go down to Gotham (the transporter was awesome and Nelson decided that if it killed him he would try to get some placed strategically around Big City in hidden locations so he could get to places he needed without running everywhere) And it took less time to locate J-Man, who seemed to be in a one on four fight with Splicers. And he was actually doing fairly well for being without back-up. Terry gave a low whistle as they watched for the moment. J-Man ducked King Cobra’s punch and high-kicked Cheetah in the face. “Somebody’s been working on their balance and fighting skills” Terry observed dryly. To Nelson it looked too natural to be something recently learned, but he refrained from commenting. Terry probably knew best.

After a minute or so the little group of Terry, Warhawk, Micron and Nelson got off the roof and down to where the fight was happening, with Ramrod being the last one standing. Terry lighted down in front of J-Man and easily caught his lunging punch, though the force of it nearly knocked him over. Which seemed to surprise the new Dark Knight immensely. J-Man didn’t look surprised, just pissed off. “Outta my way, Batty!” He shouted, as Ramrod took off down the street. Eventually he caught Terry with another punch and sent the teen staggering. J-Man then went around him and sped off after the retreating splicer. Nelson didn’t even think about it before breaking into a run after the loping criminal. 

Months of running down city streets and across rooftops had honed his already athletic body to near perfection and as a result he was able to do almost as good a job keeping up as the three people able to fly did. This was partly for the thrill of the chase and partly for revenge on his car. He had loved that car and was still paying for it. 

Though he was on foot he managed to get to J-Man first when the guy hit a dead end He ran over without thinking and kicked him in the crotch as hard as he could. J-Man went down with a high-pitched whimper, hands over the sensitive area so that there wouldn’t be another attack and Nelson couldn’t help it, he laughed at the sight.

_whap_

“You just had to go for the crotch, didn’t you?” Asked an annoyed Warhawk, ready to smack Nelson over the head yet again. Nelson pointed at the incapacitated J-Man on the ground and grinned. 

“Got the job done, didn’t it? Besides, if he’s dangerous like you were saying, a little damage to the family jewels isn’t going to keep him down for very long, right?” Warhawk scowled and then shoved Nelson over towards J-Man. 

“You hurt him, and you’re the Boy Blue. I vote _you_ talk to him, you cocky brat” 

Nelson’s euphoric feeling melted away. He had to talk to J-Man? Like reason with him? That was not his forte, but he kneeled down anyway in front of J-Man. “Hey there” J-Man looked up at him and eyes burned angrily from under the mask. 

“Who the fucking hell are you?” J-Man spat and Nelson winced slightly at just how angry he sounded. Angry wounded and scared.  
“Little Boy Blue” Nelson said after a few moment’s pause. He had to keep remembering he had a secret identity, and not to announce it every time someone asked his name. “And you’re J-Man. Nice work on the Splicers back there, but was it really called for?” J-Man just looked at him and then leaned around him and looked at the three behind Nelson. 

“Four Leaguers really called for in bringing little old me down? I’m almost flattered, HA!” his voice had taken on a very different sound. It was a bit looney and rather jocular. J-Man put a shaking hand over his mouth for a moment and the eyes closed behind the mask. Nelson frowned. That sounded like Joker, almost. Granted, J-Man idolized Joker you could tell, but this had sounded unintentional, and off...

“Did the Splicers steal something from you?” he was rather proud of himself for using his head and coming up with that idea. J-Man stared at him and then sneered. He began getting up and Nelson grabbed him by the shirt. They struggled and Nelson ripped the shirt.

Revealing a bright yellow chest. Bright lemon rind yellow.

“Creeper...” Terry breathed, and J-Man pushed Nelson backwards and leaped to a fire escape, cackling. 

He scaled it before pausing and shouting his message down at Nelson before he was up and over the building before anyone could move, his insane laughter echoing on the walls. Warhawk cursed in what Nelson assumed was Thanagarian and quickly belted out orders before instructing Micron to take Nelson back to the Tower until further notice.

 **~ Now ~**

Nelson opened his eyes when there was shouting and raced out of the empty and borrowed (though a part of his mind had come to the conclusion that if the league had their way, the room he would have so they could keep a closer eye on him) room. There was J-Man without the mask and the white face paint smeared all over his yellow face and into his lime green hair. The meta was being held tightly by both Warhawk and Terry, though it was obvious that he was a struggle for both of them. J-Man turned his head and eyes locked with Nelson Nash’s. J-Man started laughing, and it became sobs. “They stole my medication that keeps me sane” the meta practically screamed, and Nelson’s heart clenched with guilt.


	4. It Goes Like This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> J-Man is unhinged and they spot a Question

There was no way in hell Nelson would have the guts to take on Nissa in the practice room. She had Warhawk pinned in moments and grinned a shark smile as he beat out the three taps on the mat to signal she had won. It had been a surprise to everyone but Big Barda, who had simply watched the girl’s ferocity and nodded as she took out the half Thanagarian with relative ease. “She fights like a Fury” the woman had complimented. “Rough and largely untrained, but disciplined. Rex was a fool for taunting her and sparking her ire” Terry had smirked at that comment. Even though the girl had been previously unknown to him just a few days ago, he already regarded her as a partner. After all, she had the Batgirl name and the bat symbol in silver on her chest proudly displayed. The bat clan, after all. By that logic she was practically Terry’s sister and from what Nelson had noted, she had the same feelings. They acted like siblings. 

The fight had lasted several minutes, the first few Barda had correctly guessed were Nissa taking note of how Warhawk fought. Then the girl had gone from purely defensive to offensive, using the room to scale the walls and throw one of her electric stick things into a wing of Rex’s, causing the metallic wings to short out and effectively clipped the wings of the bird man. Then Nissa was on him like a wildcat and while Rex fought valiantly, he was no match for Nissa and her street-smarts, wise-cracks and absolute justified fury. She was every bit as ferocious and determined, if not more so, and he was down as effectively as if he was fighting Big Barda or Wonder Woman. 

Despite her victory though, she refused to fight Big Barda or Mareena or Micron in any way that wasn’t a practice spar. “I”m good but I ain’t that good” she had stated with a wry grin, as though defeating _Warhawk_ with all his years of training at his mother’s side was no big deal. Maybe it wasn’t for her. Nelson had to commend her for having the foresight to know when there was a fight she probably wouldn’t win though. The girl may have been keeping a handle on the riots in Crime Alley but she obviously knew when to pick a fight and when to leave it alone.

Watching the match had been a welcome reprieve from thinking about J-Man, locked in a room with an ankle bracelet that shocked him if he tried to go through the door. It was a bad enough shock to bypass even the Creeper invulnerability that he more than likely had as well, all things considered. He certainly had the healing factor seeing as he could get up after the shock and shake it off like a dog shaking off water. 

J-Man had shed his ruined clothes and paced around in purple and green pinstriped boxers, talking to himself and giggling every now and then. You could hear him through the door and walls. Nelson had gone in there once with Kai Ro to interrogate him, little good _that_ had done, and had seen just how unhinged the other teen had become in the space of a few days. The yellow skin was grimy and the hair was dark green from sweat and grease but nobody dared try to get him out of the room and to the showers. He was a flight risk to the nth degree, though where he could run to was a mystery but as Big Barda and Static Shock agreed, you didn’t want an uncontrolled and ticked off Creeper running around anywhere. The last time it had happened Joker himself had begged the Batman for help in controlling the monstrosity that Joker had unwittingly created. 

It was ironic that the son was a Jokerz member. If the original Creeper was alive and well (though from the way J-Man talked the man was either old, senile and in a home or dead) he could hardly be pleased at the way things had turned out for his son. Nelson had to wonder what had made J-Man hate his old man _so much_ to join forces with the memory of Creeper’s most hated enemy. Sure, there were times when Nelson and his dad didn’t get along, but Nelson couldn’t imagine being that full of hate towards your father you not only hid every trace of what linked you together, you joined with the person he hated most. That...had to sting the original Creeper, if he was still alive. 

“Hey Nash, want to see if J is still jumping on the bed?” Terry had been quick to drop the 'man’ part of the name and everyone else had just sort of gone along with it. It was easier to call him that in any case. Nelson hesitated for all of four seconds before taking one look at Rex Stewart and deciding he really didn’t want to hear what was probably going to be a massive rant. He might not like Terry but he was glad his wrestling captain had decided to spare him from listening to the half Thanagarian’s rage. Even if it was to see J and feel bad for catching the meta. But Nelson decided to go anyway and ran to catch up with Terry to check on the captive meta. 

J-Man wasn’t jumping on the bed. The bed he had torn apart and made a sort of nest out of, with the pillow and blankets tucked into it and around him. Tery stepped carefully through the door and when J-Man didn’t move from the nest, Terry beckoned Nelson to step inside as well. The smell was repulsive with J-Man being so filthy and Nelson instinctively put a hand over his nose. The League was seriously keeping someone locked up like an animal and while Nelson understood why, he still felt like maybe there was a better way to go about this. While Terry inspected the exact amount of damage J-Man had wrecked on the room (and seeing where the springs from the bed’s insides had gone to) Nelson walked right up to the nest and source of the smell and looked in. J-Man was dead asleep ,arms wrapped around himself. His face was slack and almost vulnerable. Behind his closed lids his eyes moved restlessly, viewing a dream. 

Again Nelson felt an unfamiliar jab of pity for the other young man. Everyone else in the Tower had chosen their lifestyle ,welcomed it. For different reasons they had all chosen to become superheroes. Some out of duty, some because of familial legacies...The only one Nelson could imagine relating was Kai Ro. Though he had accepted the ring, the ring had chosen the kid and hadn’t left him with a lot of choice about being a superhero. Probably why Kai Ro had been so gentle during the interrogation. 

Nelson was a few inches away from J-Man’s face, inspecting the hard softness of the young man’s actual face when dark forest green eyes popped open and stared dead on into blue eyes. A yellow finger came up and touched Nelson’s forehead, carefully pushing Nelson backwards as the sleep-drunk green eyes regarded him curiously from the depths of the nest. Nelson lost his balance and fell backwards with a thump. Terry was up and at his side in an instant as J-Man slowly rose from the nest and stretched. He then scratched his dirty stomach and regarded the two costumed heroes with an unreadable expression before grinning and crouched animal like in front of them as Terry and Nelson watched him with awe and in Nelson’s case a little fear. 

“Come to see Creeper have you? Well he’s not home but Jack’s Man is. Geddit? Jack’s Man? J-Man? But which Jack? There’s two of em!” Once again the laughter turned into almost sobs, just without the tears this time. J-Man had apparently used up all his tears the last few days. He hugged himself tightly for a moment before dropping his arms and regarding them hollowly. “I still don’t wanna be part of the club” He told them quietly. “I ain’t hero like pops and I don’t wanna be. I can feel myself going...CRAZY ,HAHAHA!!” he brayed laughter into Terry’s face, who winced. 

Nelson put his arm in front of his captain and cleared his throat, getting J-Man’s attention. “I know Batman can be pretty annoying” He got a sharp look from Terry for that comment but ignored it. “But targeting him is going to do about as much good as ruining this room. I’ll give you food and new clothes if you calm down and shut up and take a shower. We can figure everything out later but for god’s sake take a fucking shower. You smell like a monkey’s ass” Terry and J-Man stared at Nelson, but for different reasons. Terry was surprised Nelson was actually trying to reason with the mad teen and J-Man was impressed somebody was talking to him like a person, and not a criminal or something to be pitied. 

J-Man grabbed Nelson by the front of his costume and stared good and hard for several moments before dropping him on Terry. He then sat down and stuck his ankle out for them to undo the bracelet. Terry cautiously went over to him and did the honors while J-Man just sat there. When they led him to the door, he didn’t bolt. J-Man looked over at Nelson and nodded as solemnly as he could. “I don’t want a hero costume. I just want a hoodie and some jeans, understood?” Nelson snorted but nodded. Getting the guy a hero costume had never crossed his mind. Though he had just considered getting him a t-shirt and shorts but he supposed J-Man wanted to show as little yellow skin as possible. 

Nelson kept watching fora few moments after the now docile J-Man had disappeared around the corner, led by the hand by Terry. 

 

~*~

 

J-Man looked a lot better with grass-green hair and clean lemon yellow skin (actually a few shades lighter and Nelson was tempted to say it was a dark butter yellow color when clean) he also wore Nelson’s clothes well, with them just a size or two too big but otherwise fitting well. He was eating in the cafeteria like there was no tomorrow. He was shoveling food into his mouth and watching Nissa and Rex as warily as they were watching him. 

Finally, finally J-Man was done. He shoved the heap of plates away from himself and burped, long and loud. Nelson and everyone else leaned back in disgust while J-Man smacked his lips happily. Rex leaned forward and smacked his hand down on the table with authority. “What were you doing fighting four Splicers alone?” 

J-Man’s face lost the contentment it had a moment ago and turned flat. He gazed sullenly at Warhawk before turning his eyes to Nelson and grinning the smile Joker and Creeper were both famous for. It was rather creepy on J-Man if everyone present were honest with themselves. “Told ya freaks. I was tryin ta get back my medication. It’s the only thing that keeps what I inherited from pops under control. I mean-”

J-Man never got to finish his sentence as Big Barda came to the table and nodded at Rex and Nissa, as well as giving J-Man a passing curious glance. “We found recent news footage of a faceless young woman in a purple trenchcoat” Barda barely hid the excitement in her voice. “The girl did fight bravely against Spellbinder. She saved the boy who took the footage. Perhaps not a Fury, but she shall make her predecessors proud. Vic will be smiling in his grave with the tactics she used”

Terry nodded. “That’s great! But that doesn’t help us get her in the tower” J-Man giggled and propped his head on his hands.

“Better to be apprehended than stuck here for days on end while you numbskulls figure out what to do with us” Privately Nelson felt J had a point, but he wagged a finger at the other none the less. 

“There are four new supervillains rising, dude. By bringing us to the Tower they saved us from being turned into John Does in the morgue” Rex spared a small smile for Nelson though it was gone almost faster than one could blink. 

“With a new Ace, Clayface, Dr. Light and Scarecrow, it would be better for all if we kept you guys up here till we can get you trained” J-Man frowned and then sighed. 

“Since pops left me with his unfortunate legacy, I guess I don’t really have a choice. Train me up pup and then let’s go find Question” Nelson smiled. 

“Finally we’re on the same page!”


	5. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the villains turn to shine

“Ghoulie? Are we gonna figure out how to wake up mommy and daddy?”

“Shh baby .We’ll figure it out”

Ghoul had never imagined he would be all that good with kids. He had been good with the Dee Dees, but normal children? No, Ghoul had never considered himself to have a natural knack for taking care of kids. Though it had to be said that the nine year old Tamara Caulder was hardly a kid with how mature she acted. Ghoul had found her shortly after waking up from a drunken night to a weird poem on his wall. The girl had been escaping from the military. Ghoul hadn’t done anything but watch her singlehandedly cause them all to hallucinate and pass out. Ghoul had very nearly joined them when he had moved from behind a building. 

He had felt the brunt of her power for one dizzying and terrifying moment before she had halted her attack and had asked him what he was doing. When he responded he was trying to figure his life out, she had laughed. He had offered to take her away from the scene and help her get lost in Gotham, and she had willingly taken his hand. He would have been objecting about a little girl going off without knowing the intention of the adult she was going with, but since she had nearly knocked him out with just her mind, he was willing to bet she had already read his intentions and knew Ghoul was safe. 

It was a couple days after that the girl got a letter of her own, calling her Ace 2. (Ace 2, how lucky are you! Found a friend in Scarecrow Ghoul?) She didn’t know who that was but Ghoul remembered a story about a girl with terrible powers who once ran versions of the Royal Flush gang. Despite Tamara being nine, Ghoul shuddered at the similarities. 

When he asked her how she ended up with the military the girl had just said they had taken her when she accidentally made her mother and father fall asleep. Whether she meant a magic sleep a la Sleeping Beauty or she meant dead Ghoul couldn’t get her to clarify and eventually just took her at her word they were asleep. 

What with two riddles calling him Scarecrow and a little girl wanted by the military following him around like a deadly psychic puppy, he took a break from his Jokerz group for the time being, until he figured out what this meant.

A hand touched his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts and he smiled down at Tamara, who didn’t flinch back or cry from the creepy smile like you would expect. She smiled back at him. He picked her up-she was very light for a nine year old- and and held her on his hip like he would a much smaller child. He did this or piggy backed her usually and both of them were happy with the arrangements. Doing anything to her never crossed his mind, he wasn’t into minors and besides, he was as gay as the day was long. He more viewed her as a daughter or sister.

“Let’s find a place to spend the night sweetie” they had been walking around for hours and Tamara was flagging. She needed a place to spend the night more than Ghoul did, though he was getting tired too.

“I hate this costume”

“Oh give it a rest J, you’ve been complaining about it for the past hour, but it’s not like Creeper can wear a three piece suit”

“Except I’m _not_ Creeper. How many times I gotta tell ya that, birdy?”

“Call me ‘birdy’ one more time, go ahead, I dare you”

 

Ghoul knew at least one of the voices speaking and his eyes were the size of saucers. He couldn’t believe it! J-Man, Creeper? He carefully peered around the corner and saw a bright yellow young man in a red fur vest and red sequined boots and gloves with blue and green short shorts on. The teen spoke again. 

“You do realize you could throw me through a wall and I would come back with nothing but a scratch? You people dropped a safe on my head!”

“You’re _still_ mad about that? You’re fine aren’t you? Besides, we did enough testing to know you’d be safe”

This was a voice that Ghoul didn’t recognize and he once more peered around to look at the new guy. It was some dude in a red hood with a blue catsuit on and red boots and gloves and a yellow scarf. He looked like some weird Smurf. He and J-Man were walking closer together than the others and Ghoul felt a twist of anger in his stomach. J-Man had betrayed them and was smoozing up to some new hero? Really? Plus, this now explained why he was so careful about getting changed or always opted out of sneaking into swimming pools or some such at night. The guy was a meta. A Creeper-esque meta and Ghoul felt it boiling his blood. Tamara squeaked as yet another hero showed up-Batman- and looked about ready to cry. 

J-Man tilted his head and looked around . ”Did you guys hear something?”

But Tamara and Ghoul were already gone. 

 

~*~

 

Ghoul crashed around the hide-out, feeling wildly angry as Tamara looked shellshocked beside him. Apparently she had been holding out hope that he had been watching her and looking for her after what happened, but he wasn’t. She was barely a blip in his mind. And then there was J-Man, the unofficial leader of the Jokerz, bumping elbows with heroes and playing at being a superhero like everyone else was dirt beneath his new red boots. 

“Ahg! That fucking _traitor_!” he shouted angrily at the walls and Tamara yelped. Ghoul spun around and ran back to the little girl, hands out to soothe her. “Shh baby, shh. I didn’t mean to scare you ,honest. I’m just angry” She gave him a watery smile and nodded. She could relate. 

Ghoul got up and paced again, thinking. His hand brushed his satchel by his side and he thought of the two mysterious letters. A slow grin worked itself onto his face and he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. 

“Mel, sup! Listen, do you use your card hoverboard anymore? No reason. I was just wondering if you’d be willing to sell it to me. I know someone who would absolutely adore it as a present and would use the hell out of it. We’d just have to change the 10s on it to A. A for Ace....”

Tamara overheard him and smiled, cold and hard as she gripped her doll. It was not the smile of a child.

~*~

Two weeks later and they made their debut. He wore his pilgrim hat and an old tunic and breeches with leather knee-high boots and an old burlap wrapped around his lower face like a scarf, with make-up and some contacts to give him red eyes with black where the whites should be while Tamara wore a black and white polka dot dress and a club pin in her black hair. She was giggling on the card while Ghoul kept a close eye on her. It wouldn’t do to have her slip and fall off, he needed to be close enough to catch her. But, the girl did a good job in staying on the hoverboard card. 

It was so simple getting the league’s attention with Tamara’s powers. And soon they were there, with a new face. Er, make that a _no_ face. She stood beside Batman ,J-Man, the blue guy and a new Batgirl. Batman stared at the little girl. “T-Tamara?!” Her face screwed up in rage and Ghoul smirked behind his burlap. Oh boy.

“It’s ACE!” She screamed at him and Batman howled in pain, clutching at his head as she unleashed her fury on him. Batgirl and the faceless girl ran to his sides as the blue guy narrowed his eyes and looked at Ghoul. “And who are you then?” 

Ghoul shifted poses and held up a hand full of his own version of Fear Serum, held in little balls, similar to things he had designed before. He leveled a gaze directly at the traitor J-Man. 

“I’m the Scarecrow”


End file.
